That looks nice. What CAD package did you use? I am going to have to teach myself a CAD package because I am getting mighty tired of soldering wires on pad-per-hole boards, which is how I do it now. If turnaround is 7 days on these things, I think I am going to do a project that I am planning in a month on a professional board like this.

I don't see a way to automatically send them the Gerbers and make an order on their site. A lot of shops have completely automated systems these days.

There are plenty of Chinese fabrication houses. Personally I use iTeadStudio which gives me 10 boards at 5cm x 5cm for $9.90 (for all ten). Or 10 boards of 10cm x 10cm for $24.90 (for all ten). A similar one would be SeeedStudio, same prices.

That looks nice. What CAD package did you use? I am going to have to teach myself a CAD package because I am getting mighty tired of soldering wires on pad-per-hole boards, which is how I do it now. If turnaround is 7 days on these things, I think I am going to do a project that I am planning in a month on a professional board like this.

I don't see a way to automatically send them the Gerbers and make an order on their site. A lot of shops have completely automated systems these days.

i use design spark, a free great package ive used a few over the years, Eagle does come up a lot here but i think on the free package it limits the workspace, so you are just limited to small pcbs.

each pcb is made up of many layers and a total of 11 files. you then have to send these to pcb manufacturer, always a good idea to check each file using a gerber viewer to make sure everything is good.

circuitpeople.com the best free gerber viewrer i could find.

i think there shops you refer to are middle men getting commissions for boards, im sure the one i used is a direct contact to a pcb house.

you may want to make your own boards i do, double sided including smd components, amazing results look for the toner transfer method.

OP, thanks for the info. I will give this fab a try. I have used seeedstudio and iteadstudio in the past. Same quality as far as I can tell with my simple boards. Yes, they are middlemen. If you read carefully on iteadstudio website, you can find a hint or two where they get the pcb printed

See the attached. We got 5 of these prototypes made. Total cost, including boards, all parts, assembly and shipping the completed units back to us was $163. They are 4.2" x 2.8". The cost for the 5 boards only was $48.

Just off comparing to iTead. The price is pretty much the same. These boards exceed the 10cm limit and there was and extra charge of $10 for the red, so it prices the same as iTead service would be for the same board. The difference for me is that iTead will not do the parts sourcing and assembly.

As for specific pricing, you'd have to send off your gerber files to Kevin.

I know their price plummets with even moderately higher volumes. We had one PCB bare board we designed for a local school. It was 7cm x 5.5 cm and the cost for 50 boards was $79. iTead's price for that same order would have been $120.

not sure, you would have to contact then i will try to find direct contact email, they were the cheapest direct chinese pcb house, i contacted at least 15. 7 day turnaround amazing DHL, just about to place another order again, soon to make a 100 order.

im with BillO, on largeish numbers the price just gets ridiculous cheap

yky_sws@163.com thats a direct email for kevin, very very helpfull and friendly

I've been using PCBCart.com since 2007.... have placed bulk orders and re-orders totaling a couple thousand boards with them over last 5 years for several projects. Never had any problems with my boards/products.

On your 1st order, you pay the setup fee.On your re-orders, you just pay the per PCB cost.

Shipping back to the US is about 3 days, via Fedex. Package is on my doorstep the morning of the 3rd day.

For QUICK PCB prototypes, 3-5 days turnaround ( i.e. final check before I send the gerbers to PCBCart for bulk orders), I use PCBFabExpress.com. Yes, a bit expensive, but the quick turnaround time is great. Typically $90-$100 for (5) boards (any size).

I'll probablly give Sitopway a try too. Digging around their website, I see they do PCB Assembly too (which PCBCart doesn't). And with small minimum orders too!

Yeah, PCBCart is a no-go for first prototype run, but for bulk orders of a proven design, it's great.

Another good company (based in Canada), but PCB manufacturing/assembly done with their partner in China, is Myro.ca Prices just a tad bit higher than PCBCart, but quality seems also better.... I *love* their gold plated pads option (but unfortunately, they don't do large areas of gold, like card edge fingers).